Sometimes, you don’t know what you are missing until you experience it.
A few years ago, during the pandemic, I had cataract surgery, which not only cleared my vision but corrected a lifetime of nearsightedness. I had no idea how bright and detailed the world around me was. I hadn’t seen so well since I got my first pair of glasses at 7 years old.
And the colors! Red, in particular. For the first few weeks I found it difficult to drive because the vivid red of cars and taillights distorted my depth perception.
Up until then, I had been struggling with my painting. I didn’t realize yet that my vision was compromised, and I had several unfinished oil paintings that were hopelessly drab. I gave it up for a while, and my garage studio became a storage area, with boxes and crates blocking my easel.
It took a few years, but I finally cleared out my painting studio and it seems fitting that the first painting I’ve finished since before the shutdown, painted right over one of those sad hopeless paintings, is a celebration of light, and of the color red.
Red Amaryllis, oil on linen, 36” x 18”, 2024. $3,800.